Elderly Care App (free version) Upgrade to PRO? (£xx,xxx.xx)

This week the British government overhauled the way people will pay for elderly care. The politically symbolic and significant change is that people will no longer need to sell their houses to pay for care. They have, however, not resolved the central issue. Those who with foresightand save for old age need to pay through their savings, whereas those who burn their income and spend all as it comes in get their care in old age paid for them. The seemingly obvious solution is to give free elderly care to all. This though, similarly to the NHS, would cost the tax payer more and more, year on year. Demand would always outstrip supply. The population’s demand for higher quality of elderly care as with higher quality of health care can’t be satisfied. As soon as a higher standard is available it is assumed that this standard should be available to all.

The only way of supplying healthcare and elderly care to all is through a two tier system similar to mobile phone applications. A free version should be available to all and a paid for version for those who are willing and able to pay for it. The free version should be a basic safety net paid for out of separate defined taxation, whereas the upgrade version should have significant extras. This way those who save for old age can live their old age in more luxury whereas those who chose or were not able to save are still cared for.